Why Do Wii Games Get Low Review Scores?

Posted by Brian Leahy - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:05 AM

Next-Gen.biz decided to examine the incredibly low average review score for Wii games versus the PS3 and Xbox 360 and find that reviewers are either being very harsh on the Wii or the games just aren't that good.

Here's a fun graph they whipped up:

Using the average score from GameRankings.com, they also conclude that the PS3 has better reviewed games than the Xbox 360.

What do you think about all this? Read up and let us know in the comments.

Next-Gen.biz: What's With Wii's Low Review Scores?

Permalink Tags: PlayStation 3, Videogames, Wii, Xbox 360

Comment(s)

Posted by Lavat - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:07 AM

Ps3 is better than everything else obviously.

Posted by Matt2 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:11 AM

well c'mon the wii gets all the gimmicky games that noone wants. we all kid around about cooking mama, but really, gamers dont go for that, and even if they do, the end result for reviewers isnt good. the wii's quality titles get insane reviews, like Zelda and Mario, and most recently smash bros, but with all the gimmicky games, mostly with a bunch of craptastic mini-games, the wii's getting held down in score overall.

Posted by SkullOne360 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:13 AM

All the Wii needs is an M rated version of The Legend of Zelda. That game would kick ass so much, just look at Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Of course the parents and Nintendo would get their panties in a bunch and say helll no.

Posted by Sonic512 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:15 AM

the ps3 has the least amount of games. Of the games it does have most aren't really bad.

Posted by Cardenjs - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:16 AM

while i am a PS3 fanboy, i do like to play fair. ps3 has fewer titles so thats why their percentage is higher. Wii, on the otherhand, seems as though Nintendo has given up on its old policy to have all games go through them before being released. Its not that the wii doesnt have alot of good games but it has so many bad exclusives that it is weighing the percentage down more than considerably.

I do have to ask if this include VC XBLA and PSN games though, if not then the wii's percentage could go up.

P.S., while i am a PS3 fanboy i do not hate the 360 but mearly the business methods of its creator

Posted by imaballa - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:16 AM

Xbox 360 has tons of shovelware, I know "Xbots" like to gloat they have 270 game library vs PS3's 120 game library, but 150 of the Xbox 360 games are rated lower than 70% on Metacritic, hence the Shovelware.

Don't get me wrong 360 has some good games like Bioshock, and Mass Effect but they also let lots of 3rd party studios develop shovelware games like every single iteration of Harry Potter, Dora, Hillary Duff, Spong Bob and Bratz games.

Posted by Lavat - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:17 AM

Cardenjs if you keep spewing that liberal media crazy talk you are going straight to hell.

Posted by cutslasher - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:17 AM

The graph is also stretched out vertically. It makes the Wii games look like they have HALF the ratings of the PS3 games, but the scale says that the Wii games are only 9 points below the PS3 games. Is that really all that much on a 100 point scale?

Posted by Cardenjs - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:20 AM

On another note, Videogame raters have to play through the entire game in a small amount of time. Lair is a great game but it is not designed to be played for long periods of time.

I challenge X-play to re-rate every two-starred game because alot of people had problems with Lair and Timeshift getting a 2 out of 5 and they were really good games.

Posted by Cardenjs - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:24 AM

@ Lavat

I may be Liberal but im not a one-sided fanboy who doesnt know anything about the other system other than what they hear on these comments. Not talking about you ofcourse.

Posted by bleahy - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:24 AM

Lair and Timeshift are not really good games.

Posted by imaballa - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:26 AM

Posted by Asrugan - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:30 AM

Let's look at profitability and cost to develop. PS3 games take the longest anfd cost the most to make, so shovelware just isn't as likly to happen as it is on the cash machine that currently is the Wii. Honestly, the Wii's popularity really hurts it's game quality more than helps it, at least right now it does.

Posted by Lavat - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:31 AM

Cardenjs you have no sense of decency. You liberals make up solutions but can never find a way to fix them. Your destroying America with your tax's and lies.

Posted by XXXXX73PS3 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:32 AM

dudes PS3 pwnz. 2008 is Sony/PS3's year.

Posted by Bookshelf - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:46 AM

@Asrugan

yeah agreed. it is harder for third party dev's but i guess its good that we don't get their sh%tty games.

Posted by Bookshelf - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:48 AM

Bratz anyone?

Posted by Bookshelf - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:51 AM

or maybe your up for some Dora online team deathmatch? ill be boots, you be swiper LOL :D

Posted by Bookshelf - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:52 AM

that would be the sh%t

Posted by deathsdelivery - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:05 PM

Anyone who thinks L.A.I.R sucks, needs to learn how to use a Fking controller, the controls though complex, can be learned given time, and its a fun game with awesome ass missions, and it was beautifully crafted for a first year release.

Posted by Nintendo4Life1983 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:07 PM

Obviously you guys haven't read the latest edition of Game Informer because if you had you see the article called "20 Wii games to play this year". Don't get me wrong I love playing FPS and all but it seems to me that's all Sony and Microsoft comes out with and it just gets boring after awhile. At least Nintendo has a variety of different genres to choose from and for those who sit there and say "Nintendo only comes out with mini games!" Why don't you actually try playing the system before you judge it. I've played the 360 and personally I don't want to buy something I'm going to have to return due to malfunctions. As far as ps3 goes, I'm not going to buy a revamped ps2 because that's basically all it is!

Posted by colourings - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:09 PM

Because they suck! Only a handful (literally) of Wii games are worth owning.

Posted by phoenixfire360 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:19 PM

this graph is misleading its made to look like the ps3 games are 3 times as good when the difference is only like 10 points

Posted by Iblis_trigger - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:26 PM

Okay hold it. If somebody thinks Sony's games are the best reviewed out there, somebody has been sniffing something illegal. The 360 has had multiple perfect games that have scored a 10/10 and many 9's. Nuff said.

Posted by Hyphnip - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:29 PM

sorry deathsdelivery, Lair sucked. I got it free with my PS3 and felt that it wasn't worth what I paid for it (thats right, it's not worth $0.00)
I know how to use a controller and I got the controls, they were just set up stupidly. The gameplay itself wasn't anything special, though I did like landing and burning/eating enemiesm everything else was just mediocre.

Posted by kksilence - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:31 PM

As far as ps3 goes, I'm not going to buy a revamped ps2 because that's basically all it is-

Ahhh but you WILL buy a revamped Gamecube with motion controls and more bad titles than good.

BTW- I own a launch Wii and other next gen console. Pretty much use the Wii for playing games with the wife and 4 year old. 2 years from now those other systems are going to make the Wii look like you're playing Intellivision( with motion controls)

Posted by Iblis_trigger - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:34 PM

To deathsdelivery:
You realize everybody has their own opinion on a game. If Adam and Morgan for instance gave Lair a 2/5, it was probably for good reason. Why would they(or anymore)feel the NEED to lie about a review?

Posted by JDarkley - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:41 PM

PS3 has better reviews because it has fewer games, but good developers (Insomniac) working on it. 360 probably has the largest game library and thus will pick up some bad titles (Hour of Victory) as well as good ones (Gears of War). The problem with the Wii is that very few developers are actually being innovative with it (minigames, minigames, minigames, etc.) thought the system itself screams "innovation" and "originality".

Posted by imaballa - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:46 PM

Why the hell are people talking about Lair? Getting a bit off topic are we not?

Its all true stuff, Gameranking.com is Cnet owned ranking site that consists of Metacritic.

PS3 has about as much good games as shovelware, however if you look at the ranking Xbox 360 has over 150 shovelware titles, almost twice their good games.
good games/Shovelware per ranking:
PS3 1:1 ratio
Xbox 360 1:2 ratio

Posted by imaballa - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:51 PM

@JDarkley,
your explanation is partly refuted by the article source page 2 3rd graph.

The graph shows Xbox 360 in year 1 of its life the scores start dropping, while PS3 in year 1 scores start increasing.
You may said that PS3 has a smaller library, but remember Xbox 360 did have around 140 games in year 1, just like PS3 has around 140 titles out right now.

Posted by Jabbyestant - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:53 PM

Why does it matter how many bad games on a system? Really all that matters is the good games, and the wii has plenty.

Posted by JDarkley - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:58 PM

@imaballa, Yeah, true, but aren't we supposed to be talking about the Wii anyway?

Posted by nerdyguy - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:10 PM

Ps3 is up so high because it has so few games it cheats a little.

Posted by antiburgerjob23 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:11 PM

Well, maybe its because Nintendo releases a crap-load of crappy titles. Seriously, the best games I managed to get were Zelda, COD3, Super Mario Galaxy and of course Wii Sports and a few classic titles. Besides that, there hasnt been anything to look forward to besides Brawl. I would say 90% of the games that Nintendo has released for the Wii were just for the 'CASUAL' gamer and would only attract the 'CASUAL' gamer. Well Nintendo, as I have been telling you, the 'CASUAL' gamer SUCKS GIANT DICKCHENNEY. They become interested in something like the Wii and once the fun leaves them they forget about it and go pick up something stupid like a PSP and pretend to act suprised when they figure out how to play it. THEY ARE SO GOD DAMN STUPID, STOP GIVING THEM ALL OF THE GAMES, DAMN IT!!!

Posted by deathsdelivery - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:11 PM

@Hyphnip

Thats your opinion, but its my opinion that your taste in games probably sucks massive ass, So I'm wrong to you, and your wrong to me.

@Iblis_trigger

You have got to be a super dicksnot to rely on other peoples opinions more than your own, they did'nt like the game, thats why rentals exist, to stop you from making a expensive choice you'll later regret, I agree with them sometimes but thats only after I have given the game a chance, thats why the industry is filled with sleeper-hits.

Posted by v1c1ou5ly - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:25 PM

Sounds like a study produced correct results. Huzzah!

Posted by Silverweed - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:28 PM

The PS3 having fewer games isn't a way of cheating on this graph... They've had fewer games but, on average, better games. If Microsoft didn't make so many weak or average games they would have been higher. Because even an endless supply of 3's is only an endless supply of 3's...

Posted by Silverweed - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:30 PM

antiburgerjob23: Quit being a little b*tch...

Posted by WhiteTrash - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:30 PM

I am a nintendo fan (not a fanboy, I hate fanboys) but I do think there are too many crappy 3rd party games for the Wii. Curse you Rayman Raving Rabidds 2!

Posted by recker101 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:31 PM

My opinion

360 has been out longer, therefore having more games, therefore having a higher percentage of crappy games

wii is casual based, most reviewers are nit picky hardcore gamers,

ps3 is stupid and ugly so the reviewers feel sorry for its games, plus the majority of its high scoring games are multiplatform and those games are typically well received.

Posted by Bookshelf - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:36 PM

@antiburgerjob23

yeah quit cryin' like a b%tch

@recker101

your opinion sucks :D

Posted by JabbaB3 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 1:38 PM

That was amazing everyone... I actually only heard one ODDBALL acting like the 360 was better than the Ps3, funny thing is, there is more room for the ps3 and a whole helluva lot more games coming for it, let alone more

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